No, Flashpoint Will Not Last All of ‘The Flash’ Season 3

If I’m being completely honest, and I say this with a lot of love, one of the biggest flaws of the CW’s DC TV shows is their tendency to drag out good storylines until they become frustrating. For example, in the last season of The Flash, in order to accommodate for the large amount of episodes in the season, Zoom’s entire mystery and arc was one of the most sporadic and disappointing elements of the entire show up until this point.

Which is why when it was announced that the show’s upcoming third season would be tackling the iconic “Flashpoint” storyline from the comics (a foregone conclusion the minute Barry went back and saved his mom’s life in the season 2 finale), I was excited to see the alternate reality be shown onscreen, but also worried about how much of the season the creative team were planning on having it take up.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like it’ll be the whole season, as I think some fans (including myself) might have worried about. During a comic-con interview with IMDb, hosted by Kevin Smith, the show’s lead star Grant Gustin confirmed as much:

“I think we can state Flashpoint does not last all season long. But there are permanent ramifications.”

Considering that Barry just completely changed the fabric of reality basically, I would imagine there’d be some lasting effects in the show, even after he sets everything right. Who knows, maybe one of those ramifications could be Wally getting his speedster powers in the original timeline, despite not receiving them last year? I could certainly see it.

When asked about a moment near the end of the season 2 finale as well, right before Barry went back in time when Iris finally kissed him and told him she loved him, Gustin said he went back in time anyways for his parents, even despite finally getting together with Iris (in a way):

“I think that sitting on that porch, having just defeated Zoom, Iris says to Barry what he’s always wanted to hear, and he feels empty inside… As selfish as it was that Barry wanted his parents, I think it’s more about ‘these two speedsters took away their life because of me, and they deserve to have a chance at life. I can’t do this, I need to give them that chance.’”

After already being warned by the Speed Force itself about meddling with time and seeing the consequences of his actions as well, watching how Barry tries to navigate and mold this new timeline for himself will either be really tense and exciting, or annoying depending on how Barry’s character is written at the beginning of the new season. If he’s the stubborn, naive kid that we’ve seen before, or someone trying for the last time to achieve his perfect reality. If done right, it could be one of the better arcs we’ve seen in The Flash so far. If not, it could be one of the show’s biggest disappointments.